1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a product which is baked in a microwave oven. More particularly, this invention relates to a pastry or pie, having a bottom crust composed of a dough which is suitable for baking and browning in a microwave oven, and to a method of baking same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, the number of homes containing microwave ovens has grown dramatically. This has resulted in an associated growth in the demand for microwave compatible foods, especially frozen foods such as pizzas, meat pies, fruit pies, quiches and other products having a crust. One very significant disadvantage of microwave cooking, however, is the absence of surface browning reactions with many food products. While simple expedients such as coating with sauces and the like may be effective to provide the desired coloring or browning to meat products and the like, these methods have not proven practicable for products contain an unbaked pastry crust. In such a product, a true browning of the crust itself is required to make the cooked product acceptable to most consumers. While such a product may be adequatedly cooked in a microwave oven, its resulting "unbrowned" appearance severely limits its consumer acceptability.
Moody U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,832 discloses a syrup-like composition for use in coating food products to be cooked in a microwave oven. This syrup is said to affect a desired browning of various foods when cooked in a microwave oven, including frozen pies and pastries. The Moody syrup composition comprises a disaccharide, water and preferrably a minor amount of monosaccharide. Salt is optionally added to the composition to counteract the sweetness of the saccharides when the sweetness is undesirable. In view of current trends by consumers toward reduction of their intake of sugars and salts, it is generally undesirable to utilize browning agents having high concentrations of sugar and salt as contemplated by Moody.
Others have attempted to improve the browning of microwavable food products through the use of a container composed of a microwave-interactive material which converts microwave energy into thermal energy. Typically these containers utilize one or more microwave-interactive "heater boards" positioned beneath and/or above the food product. In most cases the food product sits directly on the heater board surface which surface becomes hot when exposed to microwave energy. The heater boards thus act to brown the food product by conduction (i.e., contact) heating. Patents disclosing containers having a microwave-interactive layer include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,555,605 to Brown et al., 4,590,349 to Brown et al., 4,594,492 to Maroszek, and 4,190,757 to Turpin et al.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,641 to Brown discloses a paper board carton useful for crisping and browing the crust of a food product such as a pot pie. The pot pie is cooked within the carton. In certain embodiments, Brown discloses a pot pie tray constructed of paper board which is lined with a microwave-interactive material. During microwave heating of the pot pie, the tray generates heat causing the exterior of the bottom crust to become crisp. Other embodiments are shown wherein a layer of microwave-interactive heater board material is provided on the interior surface of the top of the pot pie carton for crisping the top crust of the pot pie by convection and radiant heating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,791 discloses a reactive dough composition which undergoes chemical surface browning upon exposure to microwave energy alone. The reactive dough composition is typically used as a coating layer on a conventional pie crust dough. The reactive coating composition contains a reducing sugar such as dextrose and an amino acid source such as a yeast extract, which when heated together produce a browning reaction known as the "Maillard Reaction." The reactive dough compositions disclosed in this patent are used to coat the top crusts of meat pies.
In spite of these advances in the art of microwave-baked pastry crust, there has still been a need in the art for a method of baking and browning a bottom pie crust in food products such as meat pies, frut pies, quiches and the like, which dough is baked from a raw state in a microwave oven and which exhibits the desired golden brown color which is characteristic of bottom crusts baked in conventional convection ovens.